Help me get excited about 2nd Edition.
- Thread starter Bagpuss
- Start date
Zappo
Explorer
*thinks*
*thinks*
*thinks harder*
Uhm, you get Planescape. And lots of other cool settings. Then again, I'm playing Planescape in 3E with no troubles at all.
Ah, yeah, I've got it! You can abuse 2E to make ungodly characters very easily! Just get your DM to allow psionics and you'll be ruling the world in no time.
*thinks*
*thinks harder*
Uhm, you get Planescape. And lots of other cool settings. Then again, I'm playing Planescape in 3E with no troubles at all.
Ah, yeah, I've got it! You can abuse 2E to make ungodly characters very easily! Just get your DM to allow psionics and you'll be ruling the world in no time.
Kugar
First Post
Some serious answers of things in 2E I really liked.
1) Psionics. As a player the 2E psionics handbook rocked.
2) Specialty Priests. I like the fact that each religion has unique ablities, not just different choices from the same menu.
3) Wild Magic from the Tome of Magic
4) The Bithright, DS, PS, SJ, AQfD joy if you end up using one of those settings.
5) Nostalgia
6) There were some cool kits! Especially for elves and bards.
7) Trying to remember if you took 1 or 2 attacks last round.
8) Dual Classing Humans
1) Psionics. As a player the 2E psionics handbook rocked.
2) Specialty Priests. I like the fact that each religion has unique ablities, not just different choices from the same menu.
3) Wild Magic from the Tome of Magic
4) The Bithright, DS, PS, SJ, AQfD joy if you end up using one of those settings.
5) Nostalgia
6) There were some cool kits! Especially for elves and bards.
7) Trying to remember if you took 1 or 2 attacks last round.
8) Dual Classing Humans
Henry
Autoexreginated
Bagpuss said:
the Norse Pantheon is described in Legends and Lore for 2nd edition, and unless it's changed, it's available for FREE!!! in the classic downloads for WotC's web site.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/LegendsAndLore.rtf
Clerics were insanely fun in 2E, especially the funky powers they got under legends and lore 2E.
Things to look forward to include lightning bolts that bounce, fireballs that scour 10' x 10' tunnels like Raid Bug Killer, and clerics getting tons of bonus spells that wizards and druids and bards don't get.
The important thing is to ignore rules and to have fun above all.
I also highly recommend you ask this question over in the 2nd edition section of the www.dragonsfoot.org forums. But please be careful if you stray over to the "edition wars" - things get nasty if they take you for a troll. Other than that, it's a great resource full of people actively playing and enjoying older editions of D&D. Plus, you don't even need an account to post - though it's a good idea to identify yourself, anyway.
VorpalBunny
Explorer
Good:
Weapon Speeds. A two-handed sword is slower than a longsword or dagger, dammit!!
No half-orc Paladins. No half-orcs period, but that's a different thread.
Specialty Priests. Much better than 3e clerics, IMO.
Kits. I know some people hate 'em, but some kits are really kewl and not as ridiculous as some 3e prestige classes.
Planescape, Dark Sun & Al Qa-fricken-dim. Play 'em as they were meant to be played.
Less rules intensive than 3e. Not as condusive to rules lawyering.
No astral deva/fire giant/succubus characters.
Deities can't be killed.
Bad:
THAC0. 'nuff said.
Non-weapon proficiencies.
Level limits. Never used 'em so not really a big deal.
250,000 exp until the next level.
Dual-classing/Multi-classing: Whattya mean my human mage has to drop his mage class to pick up a level of Thief? The party's elf fighter doesn't!
Multiple attacks in a round. 2/1? 3/2, 5/2?
Less rules intensive than 3e. More subjective than third edition.
Static attributes. Once a 15, always a 15, barring some real powerful magic.
Weapon Speeds. A two-handed sword is slower than a longsword or dagger, dammit!!
No half-orc Paladins. No half-orcs period, but that's a different thread.
Specialty Priests. Much better than 3e clerics, IMO.
Kits. I know some people hate 'em, but some kits are really kewl and not as ridiculous as some 3e prestige classes.
Planescape, Dark Sun & Al Qa-fricken-dim. Play 'em as they were meant to be played.
Less rules intensive than 3e. Not as condusive to rules lawyering.
No astral deva/fire giant/succubus characters.
Deities can't be killed.
Bad:
THAC0. 'nuff said.
Non-weapon proficiencies.
Level limits. Never used 'em so not really a big deal.
250,000 exp until the next level.
Dual-classing/Multi-classing: Whattya mean my human mage has to drop his mage class to pick up a level of Thief? The party's elf fighter doesn't!
Multiple attacks in a round. 2/1? 3/2, 5/2?
Less rules intensive than 3e. More subjective than third edition.
Static attributes. Once a 15, always a 15, barring some real powerful magic.
Last edited:
Ashrem Bayle
Explorer
Sure... you could go back to 2e. You could also hammer a rusty nail into your eye socket. 
Still... if a person put a gun to my head and forced me to play, I might get some amusment out of playing a psionicist and watching as the DM weeped like a small girl.
There is something to be said about taking a well laid out campaign and breaking its back over a Complete Psionics Handbook.
That said, I adore Psionics in 3e. Well... after you add Mindscapes.
Still... if a person put a gun to my head and forced me to play, I might get some amusment out of playing a psionicist and watching as the DM weeped like a small girl.
There is something to be said about taking a well laid out campaign and breaking its back over a Complete Psionics Handbook.
That said, I adore Psionics in 3e. Well... after you add Mindscapes.
Just make sure you play a demi-human and multi-class. Nearly double your power with the geometric xp progression tables. Unless your DM goes with level limits, then play a demi-human and multi-class three classes.
Other good things? Have you thought of taking your DM's cat hostage until he moves to 3E?
Other good things? Have you thought of taking your DM's cat hostage until he moves to 3E?
Mark CMG
Creative Mountain Games
Bagpuss said:
Erm...
Well, there's...
I suppose there is a ton of illegal material online that can be gathered since WotC doesn't really crack down on it as much as with 3E material? Then there's all of those old books that people are unloading for cheap on Ebay? You can look forward to having tons of house rules to choose from?
Wait!
Got it!
You'll be secure in the knowledge that switching to 3E will easy and make your game better..?
